Living Skyrim
by That Guy Right There
Summary: Over 20 million people have played Skyrim, even bought all the DLC and played an extremely high amount of hours. But has anyone...lived Skyrim? After a long night, a gamer wakes up living the intro scene to Skyrim. Will his 900 hours help him survive, or will his mouth land him on the wrong end of a sword?
1. Chapter 1

I woke to the wood of a rattling cart in my face.

My head ached, my shoulder was jarred from the bump in the road, my wrists had a bad case of rope-burn, and I was cold wearing only a burlap set of clothes and footwraps.

I peered out and saw a forest covered in snow and the sun was beginning to peek over them.

This definitely was NOT my bed.

"Hey you! Finally you're awake", a long haired blonde man in a blue, padded, chainmail vest said. "I thought you would have been up four bumps ago. My name's Ralof. You were trying to cross the border right? You must have walked right into that Imperial ambush same as us and this thief." Ralof gestured to the man sitting to his right.

"Yeahhh..that sucks for you guys, but I was actually trying to enjoy to soft warmth of my bed. Where the fuck am I and why am I wearing this burlap bag?" I asked, still not realizing this was Skyrim's intro scene since I had been using the Alternate Start mod for so long.

"You're in Skyrim?", Ralof said puzzledly. "And I guess they changed you and him out of your civilian clothes for some reason."

"Yeah you're in Skyrim alright", a dejected brown haired man in a similar burlap uniform to mine said, "'The sons and daughters of Skyrim'...HA! Damn you all! Skyrim was fine until you came along, and the Empire didn't give a shit. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've been halfway to Hammerfell with that fucking horse. Me and him shouldn't even be on this shitty cart." he said, gesturing towards me. Turning back to Ralof with a suspicious look he, continued, "In fact, I'd say we're on it because of you!"

"Lokir I already went over it, even if it is our fault that they were there, it's not my fault that you literally STOLE a horse. You're lucky you didn't just get shot. If anyone's "innocent" here it's that guy right there." Ralof said, gesturing towards me. "Not that it really matters since we're all 'sons and daughters of Skyrim' in binds together...thief."

The Imperial soldier that was driving the cart turned around and bellowed, "Shut up back there!"

Still peeved from my headache, I say, "Say buddy why don't you just shut up and watch the road? You couldn't miss a bump if you were driving on an airstrip."

The soldier looked back angrily and hit the biggest bump he could find in response. I was going to call him out on how that also affected him and how much he looked like Benjamin Button fucked an old catcher's mitt, but I didn't feel it was worth the mental energy to continue on this guy.

What I deemed worth my mental energy however was trying to figure out how the hell I got here. The last thing I remember was going to sleep after playing some Fallout New Vegas. This definitely isn't a dream either. Somehow I was brought to this world, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to go back to the real world...or if I'll want to. Luckily I already have played 997 hours of Skyrim before this so surviving this will be a piece of cake...i hope.

Some time passed until anyone spoke.

"Say why did they gag this noble?," Lokir asked gesturing to the guy next to me dressed in finery adorned with a chest-plate. "What did he do that was so bad to be here Ralof?"

"Watch your tongue horse thief!", Ralof replied, obviously offended. "That's Ulfric Stormcloak, the TRUE High King!"

"Doesn't look very 'kingly'," I remark to the side.

Lokir's eyes go wide and he jumps, seemingly from the realization but possibly from a bump. "ULFRIC? THE FUCKING JARL OF WINDHELM? If they've captured you...Oh gods...WE'RE DEAD AREN'T WE?!"

"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits," Ralof solemnly responds, looking at the sunrise through the snow.

"So you agree that we're dead, " I interject. "Cool."

Lokir looks into his now shaking hands, defeated, eyes wide and crazy while he repeats the words, "No. this can't be happening. This isn't happening." over and over quietly as tears begin to well up.

"Hey," Ralof says calmly, scooting a bit closer to Lokir and looking on with kind eyes, attempting to console him,"what village are you from, horse thief?"

Lokir wipes a single tear and looks at Ralof angrily, "Why would you care."

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home."

Lokir's complexion softens. "R-rorikstead. I'm...I'm from Rorikstead."

Ralof turns to me, "What about you? What's your name? Where are you from?"

"I'm not sure what you would call where I'm from," I reply with a smirk, "And you already have called me by my name."

"I did?" Ralof replies, confused again.

"Yeah. I'm That Guy Right There."


	2. Chapter 2

"Yeah. I'm That Guy Right There."

Ralof looked at me sideways, "Well that's a...um...interesting name? You could have just said if you didn't want to share."

I extended my arms with middle fingers up, although I doubt he knew what it meant.

An Imperial Soldier calls out "General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!"

I turned and saw what I expected: the gates of Helgen, the first city you visit in Skyrim, although in person, it was a lot more intimidating.

From the front of our procession, Tullius responded, "Good. Let's get this over with." and entered the gates and turned to the right.

I turned back to Lokir who was busy praying to any Divine that would listen. When I was playing the game I once laughed at him anguish, thinking he got what was coming to him, but now I almost felt bad.

As we passed through the gate, Ralof leaned forward and spoke low enough that only we would hear, "Look at him, 'General Tullius the Military Governor'. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this."

"And here I thought elves were supposed to be beautiful creatures", I respond with a smirk, gaining one in return.

We continue on and Ralof leans back and says what he knows about the town. Really none of us are listening, Lokir is terrified and won't stop looking at his shaking hands, and Ulfric and I are just looking around. My eyes lock on a man and his son on their porch, and I see the look of realization of what's happening pass over the man's eyes as his son asks:

"Who are they, daddy? Where are they going?"

Still looking on us with a look of someone staring at an accident on the road, he says sternly, "You need to go inside now, little cub."

The child, not understanding what is going to happen, and who will probably peek through the holes in the wood of the house to witness the spectacle anyway responds, "Why? I want to watch the soldiers."

"If anything you two should just get out of here, this isn't going to go well!," I call out, not entirely sure why I did.

His father narrows his eyes at me and turns to his son: "Inside the house. NOW!"

As we move on I call back, "You should have listened and maybe even put in a donation to the That Guy Right There Is Always Right Club!" when I turn back to the cart, I catch a strange look from Ralof.

The wagon stops, and hits a bad enough bump for the Imperial Soldier to grab the nearest wagon side and exclaim, "Woah!", giving me a bit of a chuckle.

Lokir finally looks up, as if he had been in a daze, "W-why are they stopping?!"

"Because they're about to give us a really close shave Lokir, why else?" I respond.

Ralof stands and stretches what the bonds will let him stretch, "Well let's go, we shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."

Lokir grabs Ralof's Stormcloak mail and tries to pull him back down to sitting, and panicking, turns to the Imperials and yells out, "NO! WAIT! WE'RE NOT REBELS!"

Ralof easily pulls him up to his feet and gives him a slight shove. "Face your death with what courage you can muster, thief."

After Ulfric silently jumps down, Lokir follows, grabs Ulfric's coat, and pleads, "You've got to tell them! Please! You've got to tell them we weren't with you! This is a mistake!" Ulfric simply shoulder shoves him and he falls. As he is getting up, Ralof jumps down, and I jump down in turn. No one left to turn to, Lokir grabs me by the front of my burlap shirt with his bound hands.

"We've got to do something! Maybe make a break for it! We can't let them do this! They can't do this!"

I grab Lokir in turn and pull him close to whisper in his ear, "Lokir, listen to me. I wasn't going to tell you because I honestly don't care, but you're being annoying. Just whatever you do, DON'T run. Trust me." He looks at me still panicked, and very much confused and I push him back into his spot.

The Imperial Captain steps forward and barks, "Step toward the block when we call your name! One at a time!"

Ralof sighs and murmurs something about the "Empire's damned lists."

Just as usual, a young soldier standing in front of us, Hadvar, scribbles in his book and calls out the name "Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm."

Ralof calls ahead as the Jarl storms toward the block, "It's been an honor, Jarl Ulfric!" and is called next. I begin to wonder if I will enter a character creation and change in front of everyone as I stand before them. That would be be pretty funny, I chuckle to myself. I notice Lokir fidgeting in front of me as the soldier flips through his book.

"Lokir of Rorikstead."


	3. Chapter 3

"Lokir of Rorikstead"

At first Lokir doesn't respond.

He is looking down at the ground dazed. Hadvar calls him again and he suddenly looks up. His eyes jump from person to person until his fight or flight instinct kicks in. He steps forward, cries out "No! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" and makes a run for it.

I try to facepalm but end up slapping myself with my other hand. As he runs, the Captain makes the order and the nearby archers easily send arrows through his back.

"And so the That Guy Right There Is Always Right foundation strikes again!" I sarcastically say to myself as I step forward.

The captain turns back to me and sneers, "Anyone else feel like running?"

"Oh sure I don't see why not girlie." I sneer back sarcastically, "After all, it's just a matter of how you want to die!"

The young soldier speaks up, "Wait, simmer down. Who are you?"

Half expecting a character creation menu to pop up I wait and look around. Hadvar looks at me annoyed and asks again,"You got stones in your ears? Who are you?"

"If you really must know for your stupid list that won't matter in a few minutes, the name's That Guy Right There."

Hadvar sighs and says, "What's your real name." clearly more annoyed.

"That is my real name," I reply with a smirk.

Hadvar sighs and scribbles into his book. "Well what's your race anyway. You're obviously not tall enough to be a Nord."

"Well, fuck you too then."

"In that case I'm just going to assume you're a Breton then."

Surprisingly this somewhat made sense considering my last character was a Breton. "Sure why not." I replied.

Hadvar continued scribbling in his book, with an eyebrow raised. "So captain, this guy isn't on the list. What should we do?

The captain smirks and says, "Forget the list, this one goes to the block."

Hadvar looks at me, smirks and scribbles some more, "By your orders captain. Follow the captain prisoner."

"Fucker didn't even say he was 'sorry'", I thought to myself.

I followed the captain and stood in place with the line of prisoners, tapping my fingers on my leg in anticipation. To be honest I wasn't sure how I was going to react to the dragon, or if I was going to end up on the block too soon or too late and be in the wrong spot.

General Tullius spoke up, "Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero, but a hero doesn't use a power like the Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne."

Ulfric gave a grunt as he always does, and honestly after all those times I'm not sure if it was him trying to shout or in protest to it being a murder.

Tullius spoke up again, this time noticeably angry, "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos! And now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace!"

"I'm pretty sure that was because of the Thal-," I got cut off by a roaring noise ringing down the mountainside. I knew it was coming but the roar was much louder than I expected.

Hadvar exclaimed, "What the fuck was that?!"

Tullius looks towards the sky and to assure everyone (most likely including himself) claims, "It's nothing, carry on."

The captain steps forward proudly and exclaims, "Yes, General Tullius." She turns to the Priestess of Arkay nearby and orders her with a smile, "Give them their last rites."

The priestess raises her hands to the sky and calls out her prayer: "As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you-," and is interrupted at the thought of there only being eight Divines by the Stormcloak next to me, "For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with!"

I shake my head as I know he could have probably survived if he just waited for the priestess to finish. He is shoved onto his knees by the captain, and immediately I think to myself I'm not going to be able to not say something about that when I'm up.

The Stormcloak looks up before being bent over the block and exclaims, "My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"

The headsman silently raises his axe into position, and lets it fall.


	4. Chapter 4

The axe falls on the Stormcloak's neck with the sound of snapping bone and metal-on-wood. All of the surrounding birds were silenced. It was deathly quiet. I was starting to have some second thoughts about this even if I knew everything would work out in the end.

A Stormcloak woman to my left cried out, "You Imperial bastards!" Onlookers cried out "Justice" and "Death to the Stormcloaks!" Ralof bowed his head and said to himself, "As fearless in death as he was in life." And yet for one of the few times in my life I was silent.

"Next, the Breton!"

I didn't move, I was still surprised by how different the experience was now that I was living it. Luckily the second cry from Alduin woke me from my daze and reminded me that it would work out fine. It even shook the ground a bit this time, letting me know he was closer. Everyone was looking around for the cause.

Hadvar turned to his commanding officers and said, "Tell me you guys heard that this time."

After a bit, while still looking to the skies, the Captain called out again, "I said, next prisoner!"

Hadvar turned to me, still with a slightly worried look on his face "To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy."

As I walked to the block, my confidence in the situation increased with every step. I could almost swear I heard the sound of giant wings. I stood in position and the captain approached from behind and dropped me to my knees.

I smiled to myself and looked the headsman dead in the eyes

"Breakout in 3!"

The headsman raised his axe. The sound of wings grew closer.

"2!"

Alduin black as night and as big as a mountain flew around the mountain.

"What in Oblivion is that?!" I heard Tullius cry out.

The captain, apparently both blind and deaf said, "Sentries! What do you see?", causing me to smile harder as I was counting down.

"It's in the clouds!" the sentry replies.

"1."

Alduin lands, causing all in the courtyard to fall and me to be thrown slightly from the headsman block. As the headsman is getting up, the dragon shouts, killing him and causing fireballs to rain from the sky. I struggle to get up and Ralof runs over and helps me up. "Hey Breton. Get up! You might be a bit of an ass but you obviously know something, and the gods won't give us another chance!"

Once on my feet, he runs towards a nearby tower and becons, "This way!"

Before I head towards him, I run to the block, grab the headsman's axe, and run to the tower. A fireball from the sky barely misses me and manages to catch a bit of my shirt on fire.

As soon as I get in, the Stormcloaks shut the door behind me. I set up the axe on the floor and remove my bindings and leave it to help others also do so. There is one Stormcloak on the floor inside injured, most likely bleeding out.

As Ulfric is removing his bindings, Ralof asks, visibly flustered, "What is that thing? Could the legends be true?"

With his gag now removed along with his bindings, Ulfric looks to the arrow slit at the burning village outside and shakes his head. "Legends don't burn down villages."

When the last Stormcloak removed their binding and after some observation of Alduin through the arrow slit, Ulfric ordered, "We need to move, NOW!"

Leaving the axe with Ulfric, I start heading up the tower with Ralof behind me and run into a Stormcloak clearing rocks from the tower stairs. He turns to say something and Alduin breaks through the wall, causing Ralof and I to jump backwards to cover. Ralof calls out to the soldier but he is stuck in place by shock. Alduin unleashes a wave of fire that I can feel even from my cover. Alduin eventually flies away and Ralof and I survey the damage.

"Damn that's one burnt human steak, this dragon is a terrible cook," I say jokingly.

"Talos you're sick," Ralof replies, "See the inn on the other side? Jump through the roof and circle the perimeter of the town until you reach the Keep. We'll follow when we can!"

"Sending the new guy first huh? The expendable one? Just after you've gotten to know each other?" I step back to give myself a running start for the jump, and before he can protest, continue: "That's pretty cold. But I respect that. I'll see you at the Keep" and I jump out of the tower, into the burning inn.


	5. Chapter 5

Once airborne, I remember I'm not Batman.

My jump is a bit short, causing my feet to catch on the railing of the inn and my face to make sweet love to the burning floor. "Oh fuck me." I look back up at the tower and notice Ralof is gone. Hopefully he didn't see me eat it and won't give me shit for it later.

I notice that a red bar with a bit of it missing appears in my vision. The HUD being active is huge meaning that maybe some other menus will be available, making my life easier. I get up, and pat out a small flame on my burlap pants.

I continue forward and drop down through a freshly burnt hole in the floor. I consider equipping the Flames spell and attempting to fight Hadvar, but I have no idea how to open the menu.

I pass the threshold and see Hadvar with his group of refugees, consisting of the boy and his father from earlier and an old man. I try swiping in front of me with my hands and even concentrating really hard but i can't seem to equip Flames.

I look over and notice that the father is injured. His son is trying to help him up to get to cover, but I know that Alduin is coming. Hadvar notices Alduin's change in flight towards them and calls out points with his free hand to the sky "Haming, you need to get over here now!" Hamming looks into the sky, is pushed forward by his father, and conflicted, runs towards Hadvar and behind a burning building. Alduin lands directly in front of his father, and realizing there's no saving him, Hadvar yells out his name, Torolf. Alduin spews a wave of flames on Torolf, and Hadvar dives into the cover with Haming, exclaiming,"Shit! Everyone get back!"

I decide to just let this script go the same as it does normally and approach as Alduin is flying away. The group hasn't noticed me yet and Hadvar tells the old man to watch over Haming while he looks for General Tullius. I get close behind Hadvar and he turns around swinging his sword out of instinct.

I barely step back in time and raise my hands in surrender, "Woah big guy! Watch where you're swinging that thing. Kids could get hurt you know!"

Hadvar points his blade at my throat and smirks,"Didn't know you referred to yourself as a kid, prisoner. Interesting that you're still alive, it's like as if you know something. My guess is you're going to need to answer for all this wreckage, so if you want to stay alive longer, you'd best stay close to me."

"Damn Hadvar it's like you _want_ to hurt kids. Best watch out for this guy Haming. Sorry about your dad by the way Haming and I know that an i-told-you-so isn't really appropriate, but as an advocate of the That Guy Right There Is Always Right Club, I must say: **I told you so.** "

Hadvar presses his blade harder into my neck and beckons me forward, "How about we just go and stop traumatizing the boy with your presence huh?"

I pull away in the direction of the beckon and sarcastically bow towards Hadvar saying, "As you wish M'lord, anything for Hadvar the wise."

Being that the script where Alduin lands on the wall had already passed during our conversation, we rush through the burnt building and I pick up a downed Imperial's sword as we run through to the Keep.

As we approach the Keep, Hadvar and I hear Tullius call out to Hadvar: "Into the Keep, soldier! We're leaving!" Hadvar rushes ahead of me and tells me to continue staying close.

In the courtyard, I begin to wonder where Ralof and the other Stormcloaks are. As Hadvar and I are about to reach the door, Ralof runs in and cuts us off, holding and iron war axe. In a defensive stance and with a serious look on his face he stares down Hadvar, "That Guy Right There and I are escaping Hadvar. There's no stopping us this time."

Hadvar enters a similar stance and responds, "Ralof! You damned traitor! This prisoner is mine and he has information important to the legion. He is staying with me!"

Suddenly I realized that my outbursts, especially my countdown, reveal my knowledge of this world, and even might suggest that I had something to do with Alduin attacking Helgen. Knowing that the Stormcloaks would be much more understanding and receptive because it saved them, I also enter a similar stance with the sword I picked up, not actually having any experience with a sword, and say, "No Hadvar, I'm going with Ralof. You're not stopping us."

Hadvar looks back at me angrily. I meet and reflect his gaze. He turns back to Ralof, waits for a few seconds, sighs, and says calmly, "I can't let Imperial intel go to the Stormcloaks." And swings his sword.

Ralof catches the blade in the space between the head of the axe and the handle, and attempts to disarm Hadvar by twisting it to his left. Hadvar notices this and pulls his sword back and attempts a stab. Ralof jumps to the right and successfully avoids it, swinging his axe horizontally in response. Hadvar jumps back close to me and I notice his sword arm's shoulder is slightly exposed in his armor, and without thinking I shove the point of my sword into the opening.

Hadvar screams out in a mix of pain and rage and tries to back handed swing his sword at me, but fails due to the muscle cut from my stab. Ralof charges and Hadvar switches to his left hand to block Ralof's assault. With this new opening, I go for a cut on the back of Hadvar's right knee. Hadvar immediately drops down to his knees from the cut, reopening Hadvar's defense for Ralof. Ralof chops downward straight into Hadvar's left collarbone. It is mostly blocked by his armor, only cutting a couple of inches in, but you can hear the sound of breaking bone. Hadvar grits his teeth and tries to get back up from on his knees, but falls backwards onto his back. I press my blade into his throat.

"Oh how tables have turned Hadvar! How does it feel having a sword to your throat? Do you like that? Does it feel good? Does it make you feel respected?" I say as I press harder, drawing a bit of blood.

"I hope-," Hadvar says wincing in the pain now amplified doe to the lack of his adrenaline rush, "I hope that fucking dragon takes you both to Sovngarde!"

Alduin roars and flies directly above us, breathing fire onto the archers on the walls around us.

Ralof taps me on the shoulder with his axe head and gestured to the Keep door. "Come on, we need to get out of here before that's us!"

"Killjoy," I murmur as I shove my sword through Hadvar's throat.

Ralof enters the Keep, and I follow right behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

Once inside, I block the door we entered through with a chair.

Ralof approaches a downed Stormcloak. "We'll meet again in Sovngarde, brother."

I notice that the downed Stormcloak looks nothing like any of the Stormcloaks who rode in with us. "Say Ralof, not to burst your bubble or ruin your moment, but _where_ _did he come from_? He wasn't with us for the chopping block."

Ralof peered at the downed Stormcloak and then looked straight ahead thinking. "Huh," he finally said, standing up intrigued. "Either way he won't be needing his weapons and armor so get geared up since apparently you're an enemy to the Empire now."

I went over to the downed Stormcloak and was disheartened when I saw no "Search Stormcloak Soldier" pop up in front of me. "Say Ralof, what's the fastest way to loot corpses? I'm a bit new to this."

"What do you mean fastest way?" Ralof said attempting to jimmy with the gate to the right of the entrance. "Just unstrap it and pull it off him! It's not that hard."

"But it's icky and he smells," I pout, gaining an _are you fucking kidding me_ look from Ralof.

I begin prying off his boot when the loot menu jump scares the shit out of me, making me recoil backwards. Unfortunately for my high standards, it was _not_ SkyUI.

I glance at Ralof and see he hasn't noticed anything and is still working on the door. I poke random points in the menu, seeing that it works like a touch screen. I quickly equip them straight from the look menu and they immediately appear on me at a perfect fit. I switch to the view of my items and notice that the sword in my left hand isn't in the inventory. I try dropping it and picking it up, but it doesn't seem to work. To see what will happen, I shove the sword at the menu, and it disappears out of my hands in a flash of blue light and polygons, and appears as an item in the menu. I equip it, and it appears in a sheathe on my left. I sigh and move it to my right, being a lefty in a righty's game. I close the menu and turn to Ralof. Unfortunately his unbelieving look and gaping mouth sing a beautiful song of optimism, hope, honor, and especially him witnessing me messing with the menu.

"What in OBLIVION was that SHIT?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Something that will make you want to keep me as an ally," I reply, giving Ralof a pair of finger guns, a wink, and a smirk.

Ralof shakes his head in disbelief, "What in Oblivion are you? Some kind of Daedric Prince? Arkay, come to the mortal plane to bring the Endtimes? First you pull a dragon out of your rear, the damned Harbingers of the Endtimes, now you're doing... _whatever that was_!"

"Ralof, chillax man," I say with a slight chuckle at the thought of the NPCs seeing me in this light. "That dragon was already on it's way and would have attacked if I was there or not. I've just seen this happen so many times that I knew it was going to happen okay? Also I know that some Imperials are going to be coming from that direction so we best-"

"Stormcloak traitors!" I heard a female voice behind me say as I metaphorically facepalm at the timing. "It looks like they're trapped too! Get this gate open Legionnaire!"

"Speak of the Devil," I say with a chuckle, "Well Ralof before they come in and we paint the walls with their blood, would you mind explaining how to equip spells like Flames? I would really like to channel my inner dragon and make some tasty steak."

Ralof walks forward pushing me out of the way, and pulls out twin axes. "Why don't you ask yourself, all-knowing-one."

"Come on man it'll help and I really don't know how!" I plead futilely.

Ralof enters a defensive stance and utters no words. The gate begins to open and the Imperial Captain from earlier and the two Imperial Soldiers with her draw their swords. I shrug and draw my sword and stand in the same stance from earlier at Ralof's right.

"You're outnumbered, traitors. Yield or taste Imperial steel." The captain said stepping over the opening gate, pointing her sword forward at us.

"Ooooooo another death or death situation! Let me think about it! Luckily for you though, it's death or death with the sting of I-told-you-so's dick up your-" I say mockingly, but am cut off by Ralof's Battle Cry.

The sound makes the two Imperial Soldiers jump, but a look from their captain forces them to form up at her sides, although still frightened. Ralof charges forward, reaches their line within seconds, and swings his axes savagely at the the Captain and the soldier to her right. I follow with a charge of my own at the soldier on the captain's left. He swings a preemptive downward strike, and I catch it, deflecting to left and quickly land a quick deep cut on his sword arm's inner elbow.

I notice that my heath bar has reappeared, and my stamina bar also appeared with a sliver of it missing, most likely from the block. My pause to notice this however earns me a punch from the soldier's left hand, but being his off hand it did very little. He attempts to follow it up with a horizontal strike, but being that it was slow from the injury, I am able to parry it in time. He backs up, fear still in his eyes from Ralof's Battle Cry and he notices the blood pouring from his elbow. His sword arm droops down and I exploit the opening with a horizontal cut at the throat. He sees it a bit late and tries to step back, but my blade cuts through his Adam's apple, calling a rush of blood. He drops his sword and pulls both of his hands to his neck in an attempt to stop the blood and gasps for air. Neither work, and he slumps to the ground. I turn to Ralof and see him still fighting the captain, while the other soldier lies dead on the floor, with one of Ralof's axes stuck deep inside his skull.

"Say, _girlie_! I thought we were the one's outnumbered!" I mock, walking towards her with my sword on my shoulder.

The captain power attacks vertically, and Ralof barely catches it in the space between the axe-head and the grip. " _Say, That Guy Right There!_ How about you stop mocking her and help me dammit!"

"Damn Ralof chill dude I'm getting to that," I say flipping my sword into position. "You have to enjoy your work you know."

If he wasn't busy trying not to get killed, Ralof probably would have rolled his eyes.

The captain pulls her blade free from Ralof's axe and quickly spins a 180, delivering a diagonal blow towards me. I jump back and instinctively barely parry it, but my defense was jarred by the force of the cut. She follows up with a stab to my stomach which connects.

Author's Note:

So I forgot to post this chapter last Saturday, life and college pulled my focus away. But here it is, I hope you enjoy. I am new to this so please do leave any pointers or anything like that. In the meantime, I'll attempt not to get sidetracked from posting Ch.7 on the 11th :).


	7. Chapter 7

"You should learn not to focus all your brain power on what comes out of your mouth, Prisoner." the Imperial Captain says coyly.

I look down at the blade in me. I'm not sure if it's the rush of adrenaline or shock, but I feel no pain. The Captain pulls her blade out of my stomach and the hole in my armor, and spins around with a horizontal slash at my neck and turns around immediately to deal with Ralof.

But I'm not dead, my head is still intact. If anything my health is low. The blood has just stopped flowing from the stab, and my neck, instead of failing to connect my head to my body, only squirted out a bit of blood.

I look at my hand, touch it to my wounds, and find them to be non-existent. It's like I got hit in the game: a bit of blood, but no actual wounds. The armor is even still intact, even though earlier it looked like there was a hole.

Unfortunately for the Captain, she assumed I was dead long before my soul even would dare to leave my body.

I make eye contact with Ralof, see the worry with a slight bit of fear as the Captain turn to continue her attack on him. He probably assumes I am about to fall to my injuries, and returns focus to the Captain.

Without a sound I slowly follow the Captain towards Ralof. Ralof blocks and parries her barrage and attempts to get in some of his own, but they either bounce off her arm guards or she parries, only to continue. Ralof seems sure to tire eventually.

But I want to enjoy this moment.

Ralof's jumps back panting, then finally sees me almost right behind the Captain. His eyes go wide and he can't take his eyes away. The Captain rushes forward, but noticing the change in demeanor, skids to a stop, allowing me to catch up right behind her.

Before she can turn around, I grab her mouth with my right hand and pull her back, while with my left, I run my blade through her torso, managing to clip through the steel in her armor, due to it being one of the kill moves in the game. As she is dying I pull her head back and move mine to the left of hers and smile at her wide-eyed fear and confusion.

"Aw gee la Capitán! Maybe you shouldn't focus all of your brain power in believing that your victims are really dead! Although then again, I'm sure you're accustomed to taking swords from behind."

The Captain coughs up blood, making me move my hand in disgust. She weakly turns her head towards mine and smiles. "Enjoy this...while you can,…Prisoner. I'm certain...I'm certain this is the deepest you'll ever be in...a woman!" She coughs once more in my face and dies smiling before I can respond with an embarrassed false claim about me "getting the ladies".

I let her slide off my blade onto the floor, spit for good measure, then look up at Ralof.

"Close your mouth, man. I can smell the lack of toothpaste from here."

Ralof closes his gaping mouth, shakes his head and walks past me to retrieve his axe.

"Come on man! Aren't you going to ask your 'god' what happened there?" I say jokingly.

"I couldn't possibly care less. I've seen enough crazy things today." Ralof responds tiredly.

"What do you mean? I only killed more people today than you, a veteran Stormcloak officer" I continue coyly.

Ralof turns around suddenly and throws the axe he used to fight the Imperial Captain past my head, which bounces off the wall behind me and clangs to the floor. This makes me go silent and Ralof stoops down and pulls his other axe out of the Imperial Soldier's head, with it coming blood, bone, and brain fragments.

"Do you think it's all about killing?" Ralof says still looking at his freshly retrieved axe.

"Ralof chill man I-" I begin to say.

"Because it is not!" Ralof says, turning his head to me and standing up suddenly. "This war is for freedom! To believe in what we want! To live our lives breathing the fresh air of freedom and not the boot of oppression! Do you think that I enjoy killing my fellow Nords?" He asks pointing the axe at the fallen Imperial Soldier's corpses.

"Ralof relax man-" I begin again.

"BECAUSE I DON'T! BUT I MUST KILL OR ELSE THEY WOULD KILL ME FOR MY BELIEFS! FOR MY LOYALTIES! FOR THE ARMOR I WEAR! OR PUT MY FAMILY TO DEATH BECAUSE THEY WON'T KNEEL TO THE THALMOR'S WHIM! That is why I fight, That Guy Right There. For my beliefs, my family, to be rid of a corpse of an Empire, and for those who cannot fight for their beliefs." Ralof says, anger creeping into his eyes. He points the axe in his hands at me accusingly, "Why do you fight? For blood? Enjoyment? You don't deserve whatever power you have."

I don't speak. I don't actually care what he thinks, this is just a game after all. I just know that if I say something, he will yell more and I might even have to fight him, which would _really_ change things.

After some time and a dragon's cry shaking the Keep, Ralof relaxes, "Do any of the Imperials have the key to the gate? We need to keep moving before more show up."

"Yeah the Captain does. There are more Imperials ahead by the way, but I have an idea." I reply with a wink.


	8. Chapter 8

"Remind me again why you got the Imperial Captain's armor and not me?"

"Well Ralof, you don't exactly have a mystic portal that makes things fit you and changes the armor to match your gender. I didn't want you to be looking like a really shitty attempt at a trap. And that would have been even more gay than a regular trap." I reply, from the last step of the stairs after the gate of the Keep I unlocked.

"Well the thing with that is I actually know Imperial jargon from reconnaissance missions and I have a bad feeling your mouth is going to get us in a bad spot. You could have taken it off after you changed it to a male set you know.", Ralof said.

"Sounds like you're just jealous Ralof," I wink with a single finger-gun.

"I'm not jealous, I'm making sure we don't get killed, or at least that you don't get me killed considering, Sir That Guy Who Somehow Is Able To Walk Around Normally After Being A Human Skewer - " the hallway gets knocked down cutting him off, only to continue, "And Whose Name Is Long To Compensate For The Size Of His-."

"Whoa there Ralof, you don't have any meat to cook that salt with. Just call me Guy if your poor mouth and throat can't handle the size of my name. Now follow my lead and watch my back, as here there be three Imperials!" I say as I open the door.

"Grab everything important and let's move! The dragon is burning everything to the ground!" A soldier calls out.

"I just need to gather some more potions." another timidly says back.

They haven't seem to have noticed Ralof and I yet and he looks at me wondering the same thing as me: how are we going to pull this off?

Then an idea pops into my head.

"Ad Victoriam brothers!" I do a Brotherhood of Steel salute and realize this isn't the right game by their weird looks and a feeling of a mental facepalm behind me.

I continue with an attempt to salvage this failure: "Due to your ability to survive a dragon attack, you have been conscripted to replace the fallen legionaries of Ulpia Victrix, the Victorious Thirtieth Legion! As your Legate, Trajan, I bid thee ad victoriam!" I salute the same way to the soldiers again, in an attempt to sell it.

The soldiers look at each other, nervously form a line, and salute back, "Ad Victoriam…?"

 _OMF THAT WORKED?!_ I think to myself, almost letting my jaw drop.

"SOLDIER!" I say pointing at the one who was collecting the potions, "Bring me the potions you've collected and return back to the line for briefing."

As he timidly grabs the last one out of the barrel and runs to me, I turn to Ralof, give a wink that is received with a knowing smile, and bark, "Join the line, legionnaire!"

I turn and my eyes meet the timid potions soldier, He looks down and holds out the potions in a sack in his hands.

I take the sack, open up my Item Menu, and hold the bag up to the menu. The bag empties, placing the potions - 3 Health, 2 Magika, and 1 Stamina - in my potions tab. I close it and turn back to my new troops to see them gaping in disbelief and the timid one on the ground in front of me. A cocky grin creeps across my face.

"What's the matter? Never seen the power of a Legate Victrix before?"

The timid soldier in front of me scampers back to the line and Brotherhood salutes. The others out of fear do the same. Ralof shakes his head with a smile and salutes in turn.

I salute back and bark, "MEN! You have been selected to this squad by direct orders from General Tullius for a risky intelligence mission that will make us double agents of the war. You see a fellow Imperial Soldier who does not belong to this squad, I am sorry to say you must strike him down. We are to trick what Stormcloaks that we will most definitely run into in this Keep that we are on their side.

"The soldier to your right is a twin brother of a high ranking officer in the Stormcloak army who was torn from his brother because of this war, and should be able to convince the Stormcloak survivors in their hysteria due to the dragon attack that he is his brother, their commanding officer. Our goal is to learn where Ulfric is, what his next move is, where the Stormcloaks got a dragon, and if it is, in fact on their side. To sell our disguise you must wear these:"

I open my menu and drop Ralof's and the fallen Stormcloak's armor and boots.

"Spy and you, Assault!" I point to Ralof and the second soldier with light armor that doesn't seem as timid as the other one,"Will be wearing the curicasses, and you, Medic and Heavy!" I point at the timid potions soldier and the one in heavy armor, "Will be wearing these fur boots. Also be sure to remove your helmets," I say as I remove my captains helm without the menu and drop it to the floor, "As the Stormcloak survivors are not wearing any as we confiscated them upon their capture."

When the soldiers finish changing their armor, removing their helms and get back in line, I bark once more, "Spy! You are now known to us as Ralof! You will lead us into the next room and lead the charge into any of our fellow Imperials to fool the Stormcloaks into trusting us! Take these barbaric axes that I confiscated from a Stormcloak and make us proud!"

Ralof takes his axes in his hands, gives me a smile, and leads us down the stairs into the torture room.

* * *

Author's Note:

I'm back from getting my ass kicked by finals and am ready to supply you with some quality content this holiday. Hope you all enjoy, and as usual, I appreciate your feedback and criticism! Happy holidays!


	9. Chapter 9

"For Skyrim!"

Ralof charged into the torture room axes at his sides, and with the Imperial Soldiers we duped and me right behind him.

The torturer and his assistant were now outnumbered seven to two with the two Stormcloaks currently fighting for their lives in the torture room.

Ralof charge led him straight to the torturer's assistant, who was occupied trying to deal with one of the Stormcloak soldier's warhammer. Ralof ended him quickly, digging his axes into his exposed head and shoulder.

Suddenly, the second Stormcloak cried out in agony and began convulsing on the ground as his muscles spasmed from sparks of electricity glowing all over his body. We all stopped and looked to see the torturer with his hands filled with Sparks.

"You stand now before a veteran of the Great War!" the torturer proudly declared. "Despair Stormcloaks, as I have killed more of you at once than you now stand before me."

"Ehem."

I stepped forward moving the whimpering timid soldier I had named Medic aside with my sword.

The torturer laughed, "Who do you think you are Stormcloak, donning armor that is not yours. Do you think you stand a chance before a Breton?"

A wave of sparks crawled through the air towards me, and the arcs immediately were attracted to the metal of the Captain's armor I was wearing. My health and magicka bars reappeared and were slowly depleting, but other than that, just like in the game, I wasn't really affected.

I moved forward, taking damage and the torturer gritted his teeth and slowly started moving backwards. Soon, I was in range and the surprise and a possible lack of magicka caused him to drop his spell and move to draw his dagger.

Before he could finish drawing it, my sword was embedded downward in his trachea.

He dropped his dagger, and soon breathlessly dropped himself.

I hear the Level Up sound play, but there is no visual, but because I know that I don't know how to use it, I sigh.

"Ralof! Thanks for the save!" the surviving Stormcloak exclaimed hugging him. "Have you seen Ulfric? My comrade and I lost track of him after the dragon attacked," she continued, making a saddened glance at the fallen Stormcloak.

"It's good to see you are alright, but I doubt I would have made it far if it wasn't for this Breton that was captured with us," Ralof responded, nodding to me. "Have any others made it far?"

"I think so, but I'm not sure," the first Stormcloak shrugged, leaning on her warhammer. "I saw both some of ours and an Imperial squad enter the Keep at about the same time, and then the torturer and his assistant." She gestured towards me, "Why is the Breton wearing Imperial armor? There weren't that many male soldiers of that height wearing the heavy stuff."

"He's actually a really powerful sorcerer and could be a huge help to us, plus, we can trust him," Ralof said. "You saw how he took that spell like it was nothing."

"Plus this armor was really useful as it is protective, it allowed us to trick some dumbass Imperial soldiers into thinking we were on their side." I laughed.

Ralof looked at me with big eyes and glanced quickly at the Imperial soldiers with us. I realized I had just fucked up.

"Wait….," Assault narrowed his eyes as Heavy stepped forward moving his hand to his sword.

I nodded to Ralof and the Stormcloak survivor, who immediately swung her warhammer into Heavy's chest, denting his armor into his chest and sending him into the wall, slumped.

Assault drew his sword and charged me with a downwards vertical strike which I easily parried, giving time for Ralof to embed one of his axes into his the back of his head.

The Stormcloak survivor began moving towards Medic, who had dropped his sword upon seeing his comrades fall and was moving backwards, clearly scared. I felt moved by a bit of pity and exclaimed,"Stop!"

The Stormcloak Soldier and Ralof turned to look at me with surprised expressions, and Medic looked up, still timidly but seemingly hopeful.

"He's defenseless, and an unnecessary casualty of this war." I continued, and looked Ralof dead in the eyes. "This war isn't about killing right? It's about freedom and fighting for what you believe in. His life doesn't need to be taken. In fact, he may be a good asset to us. He seems to be very resourceful, as he did stop his fellows to get some potions."

Ralof nodded and the Stormcloak Soldier rested her warhammer on her shoulder. "What should we do with him then?" she asked.

"Either let him get away, or let him join us and the Stormcloak cause." I replied. "Obviously I can't just decide he's a Stormcloak now, but maybe his survival here and resourcefulness may convince Galmar to conscript him."

"...How do you know Galmar?" Ralof began to say.

I ignored him and was about to continue when Medic piped up. "Hey I uh...I…I don't have many friends in the force and...and they all make fun of me for being scared, and you're...you're kinda the first person to say I was good at anything...since my pa passed that is." He gave a slight pause and continued, "I also think the Empire is in a really bad spot...but...and I've always been kind of wanting to switch sides but I've been really scared to...tell my Captain that I want to leave because they might execute me or something, so...so I want to go with you!" He stood up straight and tall, and almost seemed confident.

Ralof smiled, walked up to Medic, and shook his hand, "Welcome home, brother." Medic smiled and a single tear of joy rolled down his face. "Take the armor from your new fallen comrade. He won't be needing it anymore."

"Speaking of which, you and I need to change too Ralof," I say opening my menu and looting our Stormcloak items from the fallen Imperials, re-equipping my set and dropping Ralof's set for him.

"Wow, I've never seen anything quite like that," the Stormcloak Survivor gaped.

I gave her a finger gun, grabbed the lockpicks on the table not far from me, and moved to unlock the cell with the dead wizard.

"Oh, good idea!" Ralof said, helping Medic strip the fallen Stormcloak after putting on his armor. "We might need that gold when we get out."

"Well I have also been picking up Imperial equipment to sell when we get to Riverwood, we'll be in a good spot." I said as I kneeled down in front of the cell and held up a lockpick to the door.

Upon placing the lockpick into the keyhole, a shiv appeared in my right hand, and I placed it below it as the leverage to turn the lock. After both were in place, the lockpicking mini-game appeared in front of me, and responded to my movements with the items in my hands. I turned and noticed no reactions from the others, so I guess this one is only visible to me, like my HUD.

After a bit of trial and error, I find the sweet spot, the door opens, and I put away the equipment. I open my menu and place the spell tome and the gold inside, then looted the robes, hood, and gold from the fallen wizard inside, and equip the hood.

Immediately, I feel a rush of energy through my veins that soon subsides. I take out the spell tome and open it.

Nothing happens, and it seems to be blank. I quickly turn the blank pages until on the last page in disbelief, where I read the words "Swipe to the right dumbass" and disappears, and in the top left of my vision, a message appears saying I've learned Sparks.

 _Swipe right?_ I wonder. _The fuck does that mean?_

I swipe my hand through the air to no avail. Then I open the Item Menu, and try it.

The Menu slides to the right into Oblivion, and the compass menu appears with Magic, Map, Items, and Level Up. I facepalm at the thought that I didn't realize this. _Thanks Tom Howard_ I say sarcastically.

I click on Magic and equip Flames finally, and sure enough, a harmless ball of fire appears in my hand. I stretch out my arm and concentrate, and a stream of fire spews out and scorches the stone floor.

Medic gives a yipe, and I turn to see him and the Stormcloak Soldier looking at me with a surprised, almost scared expression, while Ralof gives a slight chuckle and shakes his head. I give a chuckle of my own and return to the menu.

I notice the Favorites option, and set Flames, Sparks, Conjure Familiar, Healing and Dragonskin, allowing me to switch between them just by thinking about it. A smile spreads across my face, and I move to the Level Up screen.

 _Wow! Level 21 One-Handed already!_ I notice, swiping through my skill page. _Didn't think what swordplay I did would level it up that much._ I think to myself, being that Bretons start with 15.

I decide to increase my Health out of fear of death, and put a point into Destruction so my spells don't take as much of my magicka to cast.

I close the menu and turn and nod to Ralof. "Time to move on, eh?" Ralof says, leading the now two Stormcloaks through the hallway past the cells with a population of skeletons, and I follow right behind.


End file.
